4th October 2023

Review: “Anti-Dogma Megaforce” by Barbarian Swords

It has been a decade of destruction for Spanish bastions of True Nihilist Black Doom Metal Barbarian Swords who have hung, drawn and quartered those who oppose them by churning out three albums, a compilation, a split and a live record encased in fire and wrapped in themes of misanthropy, war, vengeance, sex and anti-religious themes. Not ready to rest on their laurels, they returned to the studio in July 2022 and committed to tape a pair of totally independent albums. Recorded, mixed and mastered in sessions with Javi Félez at Moontower Studios (Deströyer 666, Teitanblood, Graveyard) and adorned by cover artwork from created by the legendary Chris Moyen (Incantation, Blasphemy, Aura Noir), the first of those gifts to be unwrapped is titled “Anti-Dogma Megaforce”…

A searing and chaotic, madness inducing rampage through pure evil masquerading as Black Metal, “Massive Prehistoric Killing Machine” is a juggernaut of an opening cut that destroys everything in its path with a pulverising percussive battery which leaves fretboards smouldering with the sheer intensity of the performance. The demonic vocals from Von Päx are the one constant throughout is Extreme Metal onslaught with the guitars flowing from violent abrasions to a silky smooth warm solo in the final moments. If that wasn’t enough of a wake up call then “Lord Winter” bites with Black ‘n Roll fury, capturing the frenetic energy of 80’s old school Hardcore Punk and lacing it with a lethal dose of their own style. Once again, a solo in the final third is masterful while those vocals threaten to pierce the ear drums with their shrill throat splitting violence. Wasting no time on fat or filler, Barbarian Swords throw their bullets in the fire and run like hell with “Killer Of Hope“, a third razor sharp riff laden piece of maladjusted madness for your listening displeasure. This one has an eerie, almost ethereal quality to it with synths adding another texture in behind a feral unclean vocal that finds Päx sounding like a rabid dog before “Immoral Ritualistic Abomination” tears a hole in the space time continuum. A tornado of souls are trapped within this furiously barbed monstrosity, a riot of a tune which creates the perfect soundtrack for a savage beating.

While others speak fondly of their homeland, Barbarian Swords turn up the intensity to a Blackened Grindcore level of brutality for “Nuke Barcelona” and put their boot in, all the while maintaining the white knuckle, vomit inducing thrill ride of breakneck Black ‘n Roll. A blood curdling roar from Von Päx actually serves as a bizarre palate cleansing moment between this one and the blunt force trauma of “A Mountain of Corpses“, that’s how vicious this album is. For whom the bell tolls is the question on this one as the machine reaches overdrive with a kit performance from Joe Beltza that beggars belief. Restless and relentless, he delivers a masterclass in Extreme Metal fury which leaves his hands calloused as the solos from Steamroller fly in all directions. Buried synths give an ethereal atmospheric to moments of “Glorious Deicide“, creating another dimension for the darkness to unfurl its wings, while as a spoken word moment adds a touch of classic evil. The shotgun blast of the title track adds to the rampaging feeling of it, you can imagine a music video with scenes cut from the classic PC game Wolfenstein 3D to accompany it, such is the nature of the beast.

A mid-song slow down then rises back to warp speed with vicious intent before the magnum opus that is “A Thousand Impaled Heads” rears it’s ugly head. A band specialising in short, sharp shocks around the two and a half to three minute mark choosing to turn their hand to a near eight minute affair feels like a risk on paper but actually this one works incredibly well. It does so because the band refuse to trade in any of the elements that make this record fantastic, instead building on the foundation of endless piles or corpses on their path to immortality with another violent delight that feels like they’re treading the bath to self immolation. The longer instrumental passages give it something fresh and of course there is absolutely no clean singing. This is an album which has everything you could want in it from sonic abrasions to dark synth melodies and while you probably don’t need it, once you’ve heard it you’ll be hooked by its joyful sense of pure anarchy. [8/10]

Track Listing